Operation: Coming Home Pitch

Email Subject Line: July 1 Ground Breaking: Donated Home to Returning Wounded
Solider

I am (calling/writing) to see if (INSERT MEDIA NAME) would be interested in covering an

upcoming groundbreaking ceremony taking place on Thursday, July 1 at 10 a.m.

Several Triangle nonprofits and a local Raleigh homebuilder have joined up to donate a new
“Hero Home” to a local war hero that served and was injured during duty in Iraq. There will be
interview, phone and video opportunities with the family, as well as with staff from each of the
project sponsors. This is the second local donation of a new home to a returning veteran under
what is being called “Operation: Coming Home” led by Royal Oaks Building Group (Raleigh),
the Home Builders Association of Raleigh-Wake County , the Triangle Real Estate and
Construction Veterans and the Armed Forces Foundation.

Also, several elected officials are scheduled to be at the ground breaking as well and available
for media interviews.

This year, U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Stanley Roberts and his wife, Crissy, will be honored with a
new “Hero Home” at a groundbreaking ceremony taking place on Thursday, July 1 at 10 a.m.
The event will take place at 718 Sycamore Springs Drive in Fuquay-Varina.

The ceremony would make for a great local, patriotic feature story that honors a hometown
hero. I am happy to arrange interviews with any of the following sources:

- Sgt. Stanley Roberts, Military veteran and Operation: Coming Home II “Hero Home” recipient
- John W. Byrne, Fuquay-Varina Mayor
- Rich Van Tassel, president of Royal Oaks Building Group, LLC

Please let me know if you need any further assistance.

Thank you for your time.

--------------------------------------------

MORE INFORMATION:

Sgt. Roberts was born in 1981 in Ravenna, Ohio. He entered boot camp on Parris Island during
college after meeting a Marine Corps recruiter. Since then, he performed three tours in Iraq and
lost his right leg in combat, along with sustained damage to his right arm and a traumatic brain
injury. After years of surgeries and physical therapy, he is finally on his way to recovery.
Roberts is currently pursuing an electronics degree.

The 2008 event received coverage from the News & Observer/N&O reporter Martha Quillin, who
provided a piece on the groundbreaking ceremony that honored injured Sgt. Joey Bozik and his
family with a new home. More than 100 soldiers from the 82 nd Airborne attended, along with the
division’s band and chorus, N.C. State dance team and a professional rifle drill team. Three
Black Hawk helicopters flew over the event, and the Army’s Black Daggers parachute team
drifted down to deliver Bozik’s keys.

COVERAGE:
- Before story that anticipates the event and re-caps the success of 2008
- On-site coverage on July 1 – great opportunity for photo ops and interviews
- Follow-up story on how Roberts is adjusting to life and his new home

OTHER STORY OPPORTUNITIES:

- How other local veterans are awarded for their service

- What else Royal Oaks is doing to help the community

REFERENCE LINK:

- http://www.newsobserver.com/2008/10/28/76438/a-salute-to-a-soldiers-
sacrifice.html#storylink=misearch